Island



' s Sheets-Sheet 1.

C. A. H-ARKNES'S.

ELEVATOR CONTROLLING DEVICE. I

No; 522,161. Patented June 26, 1894,

3 Sheets -Sheet 2.

(No Model.) 1

' C. A. HARKNBSS.

ELEVATOR UONTROLLING DEVICE. No. 522,161. Patented June 26, 1894.

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THE NATIONAL LITHOGRAFHXNG coMPANv.

WASHINGTON. n. c.

(No Model.) J '3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

C. A. HARKNESS- 355 103 CONTROLLING DEVIGE.

N0. Pate nted Jun 2 6, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENLQE JQE CHARLES A. I-IARKNESS, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

ELEVATOR-CONTROLLING ElEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,161, dated June 26, 1894.

Application filed December 24, 1892- Serial No. 456,245. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: 7 1

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. HARKNESS, of Providence, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevator-Oontrolling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to elevators, or lifts, used to carry passengers and freight from story to story of high buildings or edifices.

It is the object of the invention to provide means of simple structural character for controlling the movement of the car, which means cannot be actuated to start the elevator in its movement up or down until the door of access to and egress from the car is closed, so

that there may be no liability to accident or,

injury to persons by means of an open or partially open door while the car is in motion.

It is also the object of the invention to provide a construction whereby the starting rope may be arranged outside of the car so that passengers may not mischievously or otherwise meddle with the rope.

It is also the object of the invention to. provide improved means for stopping the car of an elevator or lift in its upward or'downward movement. u

It is also the object of the invention to provide other improvements, of greater or less importance, incident to the foregoing.

The invention consists of the novel construction, arrangement and relationship of parts, as I will now proceed to describe in detail, and point out in .the claims hereto appended.

Reference is to be had tothe annexed drawings and to the letters marked thereon, forming a part of this specification, the same letters designating the same parts or features, as the case may be, wherever they occur.

Of the drawingsz-Figure 1, is a horizontal sectional view of the front of a car or lift and showing modified forms of parts of the controlling devices. Figs. 14 to 16, inclusive, are

detail views of parts hereinafter particularly referred to. Figs. 17 to 20, inclusive, are illustrations of means which maybe employed to insure the stopping of the car with certainty at the desired points.

In the drawings:a designates the frame 0f the car, and b is the frame or casing to-the elevator well in which the car runs.

My invention contemplates the co-operative employment of the door by which access is gained to and egress had from the car, and this door may be in the car itself, or in the casing to the elevator well.

As the invention is herein represented it is employed in connection with the door 0 in the elevator well casing. d designates a wheel or pulley constructe and arranged so as to be normally loose on a longitudinally movable shaft e, which shaft is supported in hearings in the car casing and in thewheel or pulley the latter having its hearings in a bracket f connected with the car casing.

g designates the starting and stopping rope by which the movements of thecar are controlled, which rope may be passed about the wheel or pulley d or otherwise connected therewith, so that by turning the said wheel slightly in one direction the car may be started on itsupward course, and by turning it to a certain extent in the other direction the car may be started downward,- while by moving it to an intermediate point the car may be stopped. At the point where the rope g passes onto and leaves the pulley cl, a dividing or guide pulley h, may be employed to keep,

be turned.

The construction and arrangement of the parts last described are such that when the shaft e is turned so as to bring the pin Z on the short surface or inward or most rearward point it of the groove the said shaft and the clutch member j attached thereto will be drawn back, and the clutch members '11 j disengaged, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2; but when the said shaft is turned so as to bring the pin Z into the long or forward or outward part 0 of the groove k, the said shaft and clutch memberj will be moved outwardly, bringing the clutch members i andj into mesh, and effecting a turning of the wheel or pulley d, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The bearing in the car for the shaft 6 may be constructed as a split bushing or be otherwise formed, and secured in any suitable way in the car casing.

19 is a disk or plate on the outer end of the shaft e, though it might in some cases be the outer end of the shaft itself, adapted to be brought to bear against and be stopped in its outward movement by the door when the latter is opened, but being free to be moved outward when the door is'closed.

q is a spring-pressed bolt or pin, provided on its outer end with a gear 1 turning loosely on the bolt or pin which is normally held pressed outward by the spring operating on the said bolt or pin q, but which may be drawn inward or backward by the said bolt against the pressure of its spring so as to be engaged by a like gear 3 connected or compounded with the pulley d. i

t is an air-tight drum or cylinder in which there is arranged a piston u the rod of which piston is connected by means of a pitman v with the. gear 0", the said pitman being pivoted at its upper end upon a wrist pin eccentrically located on the said disk.

A spring wis located in the cylinder t, and is interposed between the bottom thereof and the piston, so as toassist in raising the latter. The cylinder near its top is provided with ports t to admit air each time thatthe piston is raised as it will be by said spring to a point above the said air-inlet holes or ports.

As thus far described the operation of the invention may be explained as follows: Supposing the car of the elevator to be in position at a floor to have the door closed, and

that this is done, and all is in readiness to start the car, say upward. The attendant taking hold of the handle m moves the same in the desired direction carrying the pin Z on the shaft e from the point aim the cam groove gear 5,

70 outward and into the longer portion 0 of the said cam groove. The effect of this move: ment will be to move the clutch member 1 into engagement with the clutch member 2 compounded with the pulley or wheel (I, and to move the disk or plate 011 the outer end of the shaft einto the space behind the door a, when the latter is closed. When, however, the door is open or partially open, the shaft e and plate thereon if it is provided with one, will be stopped by the door so that the clutch members ij cannot be brought into mesh. By a slight further movement of the handle m after the pin Z has reached the portion 0 of the cam groove 79, and the clutch members e j have been brought into mesh one with the. other, the pulley d will be turned suffic ently to actuate the starting rope g so that it will set the car in motion, after which the pin Z may move back in the groove [0 to the point it, when the clutch members 2 and will be disconnected or moved out of mesh, and the car will continue to rise until it reaches a point where it is desired that it should be stopped, when the attendant, takinghold of the bolt or pin q may draw the same inward, bringing the gear 'rinto engagement with the when the former will be revolved until stopped by the air compressed in the chamber t by the piston or plunger u operating through the medium of the pitman o, the said compressed air acting with a cush oning tendency. In someinstances I may dispense with the use of compressed air and employ the spring alone. The stoppage of the gear r will act as a break on the gear 3 and stop it and the connected pulley d, the stoppage of the latter acting upon the starting rope to stop the movement of the car. It will be understood, of course, that after the pulley d is actuated to set the car in motion, it will be revolved by the action of the rope thereon so long as the car is kept in motion but will be brought to a stop when the car is stopped. The door may now be opened, and after the passengers or freight are discharged, and the door closed, but notbefore, the handle an may be moved in a direction contrary to that before described with the same effect excepting that the starting rope will be acted upon so as to cause the car to descend, as will be understood without further description. The stoppage of the car on its downward movement may be effected in the same way as be: fore described in stopping it in its ascent.

The spring-pressed bolt q may be provided with a laterally-extending arm a (see Fig. 1) which may act against a rod 11 extending from the top to the bottom of the elevator shaft, (see Figs. 17 to 20, inclusive.) The said rod 11 may be provided at points where it is desired to stop the car with offset portions 0 so arranged that when the bolt q is in its normal position the arm a. will as the car moves ride onthe straight part 01 but as the car nears a landing and the attendant draws inward on the bolt, said arm may be drawn in on the offset portion 0 and allow the device to be operated to stop the elevator when it reaches the landing.

instead of providing the rod 19 with offset points, as described it may be cut away at such points, as shown at E in Fig. 19.

Instead of arranging the invention on the front of the car as shown, it may be arranged on one side, in which case instead of the end of the shaft e or the plate or disk on the outer end of the shaft being. stopped by the door when the latter is open, or partially open, and so prevent the clutch members ij from being brought into mesh and effecting the starting of the car, it may act against a slide 00 which may be moved in unison with the door by means of segmented miter gears y z, each provided with an arng'a connected through the medium of pitmen" respectively with the door and with the said slide as, as shown in Big. 9. Again, instead of providing the rod e with the pin Z acting in the cam groove ofthe bushing bearing, I may provide the said shaft ewith a disk bhaving a cam projection 0' adapted to act upon a cam projection 01' supported in a stationary manner, and prov de the inner face of the clutch member j with a cam projection e adapted to actupon a stationary cam surface at its back, so that by turningthe shaft 6, through the medium of the handle 17?. the clutch members 'ij may be moved into and out of mesh, all as will be understood by an inspection of .Figs.'10 to 13, inclusive. In Fig. 10 the clutch members 11 j are shown out of mesh, while in Fig. 13 they are shown as in mesh.

Instead of employing two pins'z on the shaft c, as shown, I may use but one such pin, constructing the cam groove in the bushing accordingly.

I may provide the door of the car with a grooved guide way f 'and the door of the elevator shaft frame with a rib g or vice versa, so that the rib may move in the grooved guideway and the doors thus become locked together, and thus prevent one from being opened or closed without opening or closing the other.

The device may employed to act in conunction with the door of the car, by supporting it, say at a point It (see dotted lines in Fig. 1), back from the extreme front of the car.

It is obvious that other changes may be made in the form and arrangement of the parts shown and described without departing fro-m the nature or spirit of the invention, which broadly comprehends the employment of means substantially as described for controlling. the car in its movements, which means may be stopped against movement, or against being actuated by the door, or means connected with the door when the latter is not I fully closed, so that the car cannot be set in motion either up or down until the door is shut.

1. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction ashaft mounted to turn and also to move long1tud1- nally in its bearings, a plate or disk on one end of the said shaft co-acting with the elevator door whereby the shaft is prevented from outward movement except when the said door is closed, a starting rope,a wheel or pulley loose on the said shaft and engaged by the said rope, a clutch arranged to connect the pulley and shaft, and a handle for actuating said shaft.

2. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction a shaft mounted to turn and also to move longitudinally, in its bearings, a'plate or disk on one end of the said shaft co-acting with theelevator floor whereby the shaft is prevented from outward movement except when the said door is closed, a starting rope, a wheel or puiley loose on the said shaft and engaged by the said rope, a clutch-member compounded or connected with the said wheel or pulley, a like clutch-member fast on the shaft and adapted to engage the first-mentioned clutchmember, and a handle for actuating the said shaft.

3. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, comprising in its construction a shaft like clutch-member fast on the shaft and adapted to engage the firstmentioned clutchmember, a cam adapted to engage means connected with the shaft to move the said shaft longitudinally, and a handle for turning the shaft, as set forth.

4. A car-controlling device for elevators or lifts comprising in its construction a starting rope, a rotary pulley engaging the said rope, the said pulley having a gear compounded or connected therewith, a longitudinally movable bolt or pin, a gear on the said bolt or pin adapted to be moved into and out of mesh with the first mentioned gear, and a brake connected with the second mentioned gear to stop it and the first mentioned gear when the two gears are brought into mesh, and so stop IIC the pulley, move the starting rope, and stop associated with so as to control the application of the motor and along which the car.

moves, with an idler on the car against which such cable always bears, a hand-operated decontrolling rope, mechanism for stopping the.

pulley, a spring pressed bolt for throwing said mechanism into and out of operative adjustment, a rod extending through the elevator well and provided with offset portions, and a laterally extending arm on said bolt and arranged to bear against said rod.

8. In a car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, a starting rope, a pulley engaging said rope, a handle and a clutch for operatively connecting the handle with the pulley Where by the pulley maybe actuated by the handle. 9. In a car-controlling device for elevators or lifts, a pulley on the car and engaging the controlling rope, mechanism for stopping the pulley, a spring pressed bolt for throwing said mechanism into and out of operative adjustment, and having a lateral extension, and a rod orbar extending through the elevator Well in a position to be engaged by the lateral extension of the spring-pressed bolt, and whose continuity in one plane is broken at intervals, substantially as and for the purpose described. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 12th day of December, A. D. 1892.

CHARLES A. IIARKNESS.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR W. CRossLnY, A. D. HARRISON. 

